With the Empress Dowager of China

by Katharine A. Carl

The Empress Dowager is an early riser, but the joint Audiences which Their Majesties now hold are never at the extraordinary hours in vogue when His Majesty ruled alone. When there is a press of business, and many heads of departments to be seen, the Audiences begin very early, but they rarely extend past eleven o’clock—the usual hours being from half-past seven to eleven.

When the Empress Dowager sleeps, a maid watches in her room, two eunuchs stand on guard in the ante-chamber to the room, four watch at the door of the ante-chamber, and her body-guard of eunuchs fill the building where her private apartments are situated. The maid and eunuchs who watch in the night are changed every second day. Only the High Eunuchs are intrusted with the duty of guarding her bed-chamber and Throne-room. At the Summer Palace, Her Majesty’s bedroom is not more than fifteen feet square; the bed, like all in North China, is built into an alcove in the room. Shelves run around the three inclosed sides of the alcove, and on these are placed Her Majesty’s favorite ornaments—small jade curios, books, and, of course, clocks. In this bedroom I counted fifteen timepieces on the bed shelves, and all running. Their ticking and striking, not at all simultaneous, was enough to run a nervous European woman wild; but Her Majesty takes so much outdoor exercise, she seemed to have no nerves. There were no flowers in her bedroom, but the ante-chamber, leading into it, was always full of flowers, pyramids of apples, and “Buddha’s hands.” [5] The bed-alcove is separated from the room by satin curtains, suspended from a handsomely embroidered valance, with two long embroidered bands to loop them back.

Her Majesty is a light and irregular sleeper. When she wakes and finds it impossible to go to sleep again, she rises, is dressed, and often goes for a walk in the grounds, at what we would call the most unseasonable of hours. She says Nature is beautiful at every hour of the twenty-four, with a different charm for each moment. As she loves it in all its phases, she likes to see it at every hour of the twenty-four, at least once a year! When she wakes and goes for a walk at night, the eunuchs who are on duty in her Palace accompany her with lanterns, but she never takes these night walks, except by moonlight, and when the night is beautiful.

Whether she has slept well or ill, she rises at six o’clock; for the morning is devoted to business, and she never misses an Audience. On rising, she takes a bowl of hot milk, or lotus-root porridge; then her maids and tiring-women begin her toilet for the Audience. This is the “grande toilette” for the day, for full dress is worn by the Chinese in the morning, and in the evening they wear simple gowns. When her toilet is finished, the young Empress and Ladies, having “assisted” (from without) at her “lever,” she comes out into the Throne-room and receives their morning greeting. The Emperor then comes to pay his respects to the Great Ancestress, and together they go in State, accompanied by all the Ladies of the Court, to the Great Audience Hall. The Ladies of the Court remain outside the Great Hall until the Audience is finished, when they accompany Her Majesty to her Throne-room. The business of the day is then over. Her Majesty lays aside her robes of State and gives herself up to duties connected with the Palace.

While I was painting the portraits, she would pose on returning from the Audience; or, if the Audience had been too tiring, she would first go for a walk. Then would begin her various self-imposed household duties. She would overlook the baskets of flowers and fruits sent into the Palace daily, select some to be sent as presents, and send others to the eunuchs of the kitchen to be cooked. Then she would look at new rolls of silk, just arrived from the Imperial looms, or examine new articles of toilet, fresh from the workshops of the Palace tailors. Sometimes she would play a game, of which she seemed very fond, and of which I know no counterpart. It was played on a large square board, covered with white silk and painted in fantastic designs, representing the Earth and Fairyland. The object of the game was to get an ivory chessman, representing “man,” into Fairyland. The length of the move was decided by throwing dice. There was no box for throwing the dice: they were taken in the hands and thrown into a jade bowl. The numbers uppermost were then counted and the move made. She would play this game with the Princesses; and sometimes two of the High Eunuchs, who were proficient, would be called in to make out the number. The game was played for money, but, if Her Majesty won, the others did not pay. If, however, they won, she paid, and at once. She was ever a cheerful giver. She had wonderful luck, and it was a rare occurrence for the others to win. I only happened to see it three times. The Princesses were always pleased to play this game, for they had a chance of winning and they never lost. One day I saw her get quite angry with one of the Ladies playing. This Lady could not bear to lose, and would get sulky and cross if she did. This annoyed Her Majesty, until finally she reproved her sharply. She asked her why she played a game if she were not willing to take her chances as they came, and meet loss or gain with equal equanimity.

PRINCESSES OF THE COURT

The Empress Dowager only eats two solid meals a day—luncheon and dinner. These were exactly similar. The dishes, so far as I could see, were identical; but they were so numerous, and of such variety, one could make a change of menu by eating different dishes. The hours of these two meals were very irregular; in fact, Her Majesty had no fixed hour for anything except rising and attendance at the Audience Hall. “Early rice,” as the Chinese call luncheon, was served the Empress Dowager at any time between half-past ten and half-past twelve. She was likely to order it at any hour after she returned from the Audience. “Late rice,” or dinner, was ordered with the same irregularity. She was very fond of nuts and fruits, and ate them between meals, when she drank tea, hot milk, and certain fruit juices.

The young Empress and Ladies of the Court were not bound to these irregular hours. They ordered their meals in their own pavilions at the hours they wished. Sometimes they had but just finished their own meals, when the Empress Dowager would order hers, and, when she had finished, invite them to eat at her table. Then it would be a matter of etiquette to eat with, at least apparent, relish. At this meal at Her Majesty’s table, her place remained vacant. When I was in the Palace and we were invited to eat at her table, the Ladies sat; but when I was not there, the Ladies stood to eat, if she were still in the building, thus observing a very old convention. The Empress Dowager was very rigid about the observance of all traditional customs, and a stickler for Court etiquette, but she was also very considerate of the Ladies. When she had eaten, she would leave her Throne-room, or would conceal herself behind some screen, so that they might sit and eat in peace. I have seen her return to the Throne-room while the Ladies were eating, but she would do it stealthily, not allowing the eunuchs to precede her, so that the Ladies might not be obliged to rise on her entrance.

When the Empress Dowager dined, she sat at the head of a long table absolutely groaning under the many dishes placed thereon. Huge silver platters stood on side tables with sucking-pig, steamed goose, whole fowls, etc. Before serving the latter, they were brought to her to look at, just as the butler, in Europe, shows the pheasant and set dishes to the mistress of the house. Her dishes were of yellow porcelain, with curiously chased silver covers of pyramidal shape and quaint design. When she arose to go to the table, a eunuch standing near would shout, “Remove the covers,” the word would be repeated along the line of waiting eunuchs, who would spring forward and whip off the covers of the many dishes on the table as if by magic. At Her Majesty’s place were two spoons, a saucer and bowl, a pair of chop-sticks, and a small folded square of soft cloth, corresponding to our napkin. When she sat down, she attached to the front of her dress, by a quaint, golden pin, a large silken napkin,—for she was immaculately neat and had a horror of a spot on her clothes. She was an epicure and thoroughly appreciated any new dish the Palace cooks sent forth, and, like all epicures, she ate very slowly and seemed to enjoy her food. She never drank wine or anything else at meals. I only saw her drink wine on two occasions, when some new vintages had been received at the Palace, and then it seemed more to judge of their merits, as a connoisseur, than anything else. When she finished her meal and left the table, the eunuchs brought hot cloths for her hands and a golden “rince-bouche.” After this, one of the maids would bring her a silver basin, soap, and towels, and she would indulge in an elaborate hand-washing.